Source:
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries
Organic Newsletter Volume 2, issue 9, Sept-Nov 2005

Spelt is currently an important component oforganic rotations in Australia’s winter rainfallzones. In Australia, organic spelt is currentlyprocessed for flour and further value-added intobread, licorice, spelt flakes, and pasta. In addition,spelt has benefits for livestock, both for grazingand as a stock feed supplement. Environmentally,spelt is well adapted to organic systems. In additionto having lower nutritional requirements thanwheat, anecdotal evidence suggests that spelt wasunaffected by stripe rust in 2004 when the diseasewas widespread throughout Australia and appearsmore tolerant of waterlogging and salt (GroundCover, Issue 55, April/May, GRDC 2005).

The seeming adaptability of spelt suggests that itmay have a role to play in Australian agricultural systems as climate change impacts on traditional cropping. However, the yield of spelt (and otheralternative grains) is variable (2 -4.5 tonnes / Ha) with reported yields in Australia well below that ofwheat, indicating that there is potential to improve yields either through crop selection and/or byimprovements to crop nutrition. Yield benefits, however, must not compromise the superior nutritionalvalue or other unique attributes of these grains.

Organic farmers in the Cootamundra area of NSW are currently growing a spelt variety which is a mixtureof two older strains. No other varieties are available commercially and little is known about the adaptabilityof the Cootamundra variety. NSW DPI in conjunction with Cootamundra organic producers David andMary Booth (Buronga Organics) set out to test the available germplasm to see whether other varieties are an improvement.

A small number of seeds of each of these lines have been growing for the past 5 months in theglasshouse at the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation in Wagga Wagga. The harvested seedwill be grown in the field next year. This is the beginning of the process to determine which of thevarieties has commercial potential.

Spelt genotypes nearmaturity in glasshouse at the EHGraham Centre for AgriculturalInnovation in Wagga Wagga.Photo: Ray Cowley, NSW DPIWagga Wagga.

As soon as sufficient seed is available, the bestvarieties will be evaluated on organic growers’properties and on certified organic land at NSWDPI’s Yanco Agricultural Institute and at theRiverina Institute of TAFE’s NationalEnvironment Centre in Albury.

Quality and ‘organic’ performance are essential attributes

The 43 spelt genotypes grown in the glasshouse have exhibited a huge and interesting range of different characteristics. Some lines were early ‘spring’ types, others were ‘winter’ types. There were strikingdifferences in plant height, degree of tillering, leaf size and number, plant colour, and ear shape.

Organic growers require crop varieties that are deliberately bred to perform well in their productionsystems. Currently, organic farmers have to rely on varieties bred for high-input systems (fertiliser,herbicide, insecticide, etc.) which will not necessarily have the attributes most suited to the organicenvironment. Furthermore, organic growers really want varieties to be ‘bred organically’. That is, bredusing traditional methods and without the use of more modern interventionist approaches such as, tissueculture, artificial mutagensis, or transgenics. It remains to be seen whether some breeding is required forAustralian spelt but experience over the years in many crops worldwide has shown that breeding may berequired to make long-term progress in yield. Perhaps the biggest challenge for organic spelt production isweed control, and having a variety which is very competitive against weeds will be essential.

Spelt genotypes grown in theglasshouse have exhibited a huge andinteresting range of differentcharacteristics. Photo: Ray Cowley,NSW DPI Wagga Wagga.

An equally important aspect of spelt wheat is itsgrain and flour quality - which is different tonormal bread wheat. The Bread ResearchInstitute Australia Limited recently undertook areview of the health attributes of spelt for theGrains Research and Development Corporation(GRDC). They found that spelt has a similarcomposition to modern wheats - high incarbohydrates, low in fat, with good protein,fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Zinc levels however, can be up to twice as high in spelt as in modern wheats. Spelt may be higher invitamin E activity and have a higher proportion of monounsaturated fats to the total fat content.However, the content of total and insoluble dietary fibre has been reported to be considerably lower inspelt than modern wheats (Griffins, T. 2005). A vital part of any selection process is to ensure that thequality of promising varieties retain these characteristics and meets the quality requirements of the speltprocessors and consumers. Quality will be tested as soon as sufficient seed is generated from fieldtrials.

A complete production package

As they say “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” and it is hoped to undertake extensive on-farmevaluations of the selected lines. Subject to the success of a pending funding application, future trialswill evaluate agronomic and quality attributes of the spelt selections within organic crop rotations. Thiswill include a time of planting and sowing rate / row spacing trial and the determination (and provision)of critical soil P and N levels for spelt under organic systems. The ultimate aim is to present organicproducers with a comprehensive production package which provides them with a selection of highquality; higher yielding spelt lines and production strategies which are well adapted to their local organicmanagement conditions.

It is likely that future spelt wheat varieties will not be the pure, uniform types we are currently used to.Organic growers will, in fact, require locally-adapted populations which suit their individual conditions andwhich continue to evolve under natural selection. The plant breeder’s job in this scenario is to produce thegenetically-mixed populations by hybridisation and then let nature takes its course (along with a helpinghand from the participatory organic growers). The end result will be ‘landraces’ - much like the crops ofcenturies past. So, it is back to the future!

For further information contact: Robyn Neeson at robyn.neeson@dpi.nsw.gov.au or Dr. DavidLuckett at david.luckett@dpi.nsw.gov.au